“Hope the High Road” by Jason Isbell

“We’ll ride the ship down, dumping buckets overboard”

Sometimes a good lyric is just a straightforward description of a feeling or emotion. They don’t all have to have edgy wordplay or clever rhymes.

In the case of Jason Isbell’s “Hope the High Road”, his lyrics directly address a feeling that I’ve had (and many of us have had) since the 2016 election – “Last year was a son of a bitch, for nearly everyone we know…”

A simple line – generic enough to be timeless, but sums it all right up. When I heard that line for the first time, I just wanted to shout, “Yes!”

In an interview with Salon.com, Isbell shares what drove him to write the song:

“I was trying to find a way to deal with my emotions. It occurred to me that possibly the best way is to approach this with self-respect and human dignity. I think a big part of the problem is that we’ve gotten so caught up in the issue, so caught up in the fight between one type of American and another type of American that we forgot the rules of the game, the rules of civilized discourse.”

The studio version is great, but check out the live version below. It’s a killer performance, and wonderfully shot and edited.

I used to think that this was my town
What a stupid thing to think
I hear you’re fighting off a breakdown
I myself am on the brink
I used to want to be a real man
I don’t know what that even means
Now I just want you in my arms again
And we can search each other’s dreams

I know you’re tired
And you ain’t sleeping well
Uninspired
And likely mad as hell
But wherever you are
I hope the high road leads you home again

I’ve heard enough of the white man’s blues
I’ve sang enough about myself
So if you’re looking for some bad news
You can find it somewhere else
Last year was a son of a bitch
For nearly everyone we know
But I ain’t fighting with you down in the ditch
I’ll meet you up here on the road

I know you’re tired
And you ain’t sleeping well
Uninspired
And likely mad as hell
But wherever you are
I hope the high road leads you home again
To a world you want to live in

We’ll ride the ship down
Dumping buckets overboard
There can’t be more of them than us
There can’t be more

I know you’re tired
And you ain’t sleeping well
Uninspired
And likely mad as hell
But wherever you are
I hope the high road leads you home again
To a world you want to live in
To a world you want to live in